USA kicks out Syrian diplomats

The State Department on Tuesday announced the official closing of the Syrian Embassy in Washington and said that Syrian diplomats there and in consulates elsewhere in the United States must leave by the end of this month.

Daniel Rubinstein, the Obama administration’s special envoy for Syria, tied the decision to this week’s three-year anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian upheaval.

“In consideration of the atrocities [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime has committed against the Syrian people, we have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States,” Mr Rubinstein said in a statement.

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Israel says it has attacked several Syrian military sites in retaliation for a bombing that wounded four of its troops in the occupied Golan Heights.

Among the targets were a headquarters, a training facility and artillery batteries, the Israeli military said.

The Syrian army had “aided and abetted” the attack on a patrol near the ceasefire line on Tuesday, it added.

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The choice of targets demonstrates that Israel is clearly blaming Syrian government forces, and not rebel fighters or units of Hezbollah for the attack on its patrol, our correspondent says.

Israel has used artillery against Syrian targets on the Golan to respond in previous incidents, but its use of military aircraft on this occasion raises the incident to a more significant level, he adds.